Typically, enterprises, such as retailers, wholesalers, schools, product distributors, and others, maintain an inventory of items, such as might be ordered by customers (internal and/or external) or clients. Similarly, manufacturers generally maintain an inventory of parts and/or materials for use to manufacture various products. Additionally, warehouses, distribution centers, packing facilities, and other order fulfillment centers may also maintain inventories of items, parts, or materials. Orders from customers (or clients) are fulfilled from the current inventory of items.
Many enterprises, such as businesses, have a need to manage inventories of items used and/or sold by the enterprise. For example, a retail business may manage an inventory of items for sale. Likewise, a school or university may manage an inventory of classroom supplies. Similarly, government agencies and non-profit organizations often need to manage inventories.
An enterprise often manages its inventory by tasking one or more people with responsibility for tracking item usage and ordering additional items when needed. For instance, a person in charge of inventory may analyze or balance a host of variables to 20 decide when to more items, such as current inventories, past and projected sales, shipping times, storage requirements, pricing, delivery times, minimum order amounts, and other information. Such a person may have a difficult time maintaining, tracking and analyzing this information often resulting in many mistakes, such as miscounting items in inventory, forgetting to place orders, or miscalculating demand. Additionally, if multiple 25 people are responsible for inventory management, they may have difficulties coordinating their activities. For example, if two people notice that the enterprise is running low on an item, they both might order replacements. Inventory mistakes such as these may be expensive, especially if items require long lead times, are in high demand, or are costly to maintain in stock.